Hey guys,Does anyone have any recomendations or thoughts for 'Savant' style effects/presentations? If you dont know what a savant is, check this here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savant_syndromeIn mentalism, these are also sometimes called 'Rainman' effects, showing some kind of amazing math or memory ability.'Magic Square' is always a worker and I'm aware of Paul Brook's 'Chrysalis of a Polymath' but am seeking out other resources and maybe some peoples thoughts of these types of illusions. Cheers,Rev.

My little brother use to be able to do that legitimately. You give him a date and year and he could immediately tell you which day of the week it fell on. That being said, it's not exactly going to get the best reactions, because most people don't know the answer themselves.

You would be suprised at how many people actually DO know the day of the week they were born on. People that do not know, want to know. Many people these days have a mobile phone that has a calendar in it, if they wish to check. But it's not an effect. It's more just a mental curiosity. I got a text message from my friend the other day actually saying "I was born on a Monday !! How did you know?" so she clearly went home and checked it.

In the memory system i use to find the date, i have added other simple pieces of information so that once i have figured out what day they were born on, i know their starsign also, the attributes commonly given to that sign or symbol of the Zodiac, what the day of the week means (eg: Thursday = Thor's Day) and what season they were born in. This gives the appearance of a vast amount of knowledge.

These little skills could add a lot to a cold reading, but are just as fun without it.

The ability to use your memory is one of the most important and useful skills to have in my opinion. Sure you can use trickery to do some of these things but i say give it a go for real first because if you discover it is possible, then you have another skill you can do anywhere.

Anybody else do this kind of stuff ?

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p.s. Also, it was rather easy to memorise the meaning of people's names. I bought a book of baby names which tells you the origin and meaning and i just starting looking up my friend's name's and i just add to it every now and then. I can only do about 30 at the moment but occasionally it comes in handy when i ask a spectator's name and can tell them casually where their name comes from and what it means. Many female names are derivatives of male names and vice versa so learning those are doubly important. eg: Stephanie/Stephen = Crown. Michelle/Michael = Who is like the Lord.Some names sound very much like their meaning or it's simple to progress,eg: Claire = Clear and bright. Verity = Verily (Truth).

Anyway, these aren't EFFECTS but can add to an effect on an audience. Also makes you look rather clever.

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